01907 Winter 2023

2 | 01907
LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
TED GRANT
A publication of Essex Media Group
Publisher
Edward M. Grant
Chief Executive Officer
Michael H. Shanahan
Directors
Edward L. Cahill
John M. Gilberg
Edward M. Grant
Gordon R. Hall
Monica Connell Healey
J. Patrick Norton
Michael H. Shanahan
Controller
Susan Conti
Creative Director
Spenser R. Hasak
Art Director
Samuel R. Deeb
News Editor
Rachel Barber
Copy Editors
Stuart Foster
Nini Mtchedlishvili
Writers
Joey Barrett
James Bartlett
Anthony Cammalleri
Vishakha Deshpande
Charlie McKenna
Benjamin Pierce
Ryan Vermette
Photographer
Emma Fringuelli
Spenser R. Hasak
Paula Muller
Advertising Sales
Ernie Carpenter
Ralph Mitchell
Patricia Whalen
Magazine Design
Matteo Valente
INSIDE
7 Cheerio the duck
17 2,000-pound pumpkin
20 Two-sport gunslinger
23 Halloween on Stetson Ave.
25 Coco Clopton
27 How Nahant got its trees
29 Proud "Sea Hag"
33 Sew Envious
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Sew what
The way things work at 01907 – and in all 11 Essex Media Group publications – is the news
editor, Rachel Barber, assigns stories to reporters and they go do their thing. Their stories are
handed over to editors and then on to designers. A few weeks later, their work arrives in your
mailbox.
Oh, if only it were that simple.
Sometimes it’s a mess from the get-go. This edition’s cover story is a good example.
Ryan Vermette is one of our more gifted staff members. He can write, he can edit, he can
manage. And he has opinions about everything.
He certainly had an opinion about one of the stories he was assigned: the one about Karlene
Ball and Sew Envious.
He hated it. Wanted nothing to do with it. Sewing isn’t exactly his thing.
Then he interviewed Karlene – and found out she, too, once hated sewing.
A bond was formed.
Turns out, as a kid, Karlene would be dragged to the fabric store with her mother, and would
jump at the first opportunity to get out of there. Through the years, though, she ended up
developing a passion for it and now runs a business from her Swampscott home, where she churns
out all kinds of merchandise from koozies to quilted key fobs.
She has also been involved with the town’s Made by 01907 Artisan Craft Fair, held every year
in November, helping local crafters promote their work and getting residents to shop locally.
Read Ryan’s story. You’ll be Sew Envious.
Speaking of small artisan businesses . . .
Lifelong Nahant resident Heather Goodwin started Sea Hag Studios, a wood-sculpting
business during the pandemic that has now flourished. Our guy Charlie McKenna details the
success story of Goodwin’s business, which has everything from wooden trees to her most recent
spooky skeleton work for this past Halloween.
Those skeletons weren’t the only spooky happenings in town however. If you’ve taken a stroll
down Stetson Avenue within the past month, it’s likely you have seen nearly every house decked
out for the haunted holiday spirit. For the first time ever, the road was even closed off completely
for Halloween trick-or-treaters to walk door-to-door in the neighborhood safely. Our guy Ben
Pierce caught up with homeowners to talk about the monster mash of decorations lining the street.
The spirit of Halloween seems to grow on Stetson Avenue each year, and so do retired
pharmacist Thomas Keenan’s pumpkins. This year, Keenan grew the largest pumpkin in the state,
earning him a runner-up finish at the Topsfield Fair Giant Pumpkin contest.
The pumpkin weighed in at a total of 2,074 pounds. That’s pretty gourd if you ask me. Anthony
Cammalleri spoke with Swampscott’s pumpking (get it?) about the process of growing the massive
orange objects.
The giant pumpkin and its owner aren’t the only dynamic duo in the area. Cammalleri also
details the story of Steven Thibeault and Cheerio the duckling, who was rescued by Thibeault at
Bass Point. The duck has developed into quite the personality, becoming a police officer for a day,
and even being inducted as a Nahant Historical Society lifetime member. We here at EMG even
named him Person of the Year in 2020.
If that doesn’t quack you up, I don’t know what will.
Staying in Nahant, James Bartlett gives us a history lesson through the eyes of Nahant Public
Library Director Sharon Hawkes, who details how the town got its trees and greenery back after
they were cut down in the 17th century for cattle grazing.
And lastly, on the athletic side of things, Sports Editor Joey Barrett and reporter Vishakha
Desphande feature two local multi-sport athletes making waves in town. Barrett caught up with
Swampscott High’s Jack Spear, who is the starting quarterback on the varsity football team, and a
closer for the baseball team. Not bad for a sophomore.
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Coco Clopton is taking on a trifecta of sports that include field
hockey, lacrosse, and swimming. That is quite the combination, and Vishakha takes us inside
Clopton’s world to see how she manages to excel as a three-sport athlete.
So there you have it. Ducklings, giant pumpkins, and multi-sports athletes. Sew Envious.
COVER Sew Envious owner Karlene Ball trims fabric for her book covers.
STAFF PHOTO BY Spenser R. Hasak